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3.1.3.1. Create and Configure Azure File Shares

💡 First Principle: Tailoring Azure file share settings—such as quota, performance tier, and redundancy—to specific workload requirements is fundamental for ensuring that cloud file services meet the necessary performance, availability, and cost objectives.

Scenario: You need to create a new file share for a department that works with graphic design files. This requires low latency and high IOPS. The data is critical, so it needs to be resilient to an Azure Availability Zone failure.

What It Is: An Azure file share is a managed file share in Azure that you can access via standard SMB (Server Message Block) or NFS (Network File System) protocols.

Creating an Azure File Share:
  • In the Azure portal, create/select a storage account.
  • Go to "File shares" under the "Data storage" section, select "Add," and specify a name and configuration settings.
Key Configuration Options:
  • Quota: Set the maximum storage size for the file share to control capacity and costs.
  • Performance Tier:
    • Standard (HDD/SSD, general workloads): For general-purpose, cost-sensitive workloads with average performance needs.
    • Premium (SSD, high performance): For high-performance, low-latency needs, like databases or critical enterprise applications.
  • Redundancy:
    • LRS (Locally Redundant Storage), ZRS (Zone-Redundant Storage), or GRS (Geo-Redundant Storage) for durability and availability.
  • Snapshots: Enable file share snapshots for point-in-time recovery of files and folders.
Practical Implementation: Creating a Premium File Share with Azure CLI
# Create a FileStorage account (required for Premium)
az storage account create -n mypremiumfiles -g MyResourceGroup -l eastus --kind FileStorage --sku Premium_LRS
# Create the premium file share
az storage share create --name mypremiumshare --account-name mypremiumfiles --quota 1024

⚠️ Common Pitfall: Choosing the Standard tier for a performance-sensitive workload. This will lead to poor application performance and user experience.

Key Trade-Offs:
  • Performance vs. Cost (Tiers): Premium file shares offer significantly better performance and lower latency but at a higher cost than Standard shares.

Reflection Question: How does tailoring file share settings (e.g., choosing a Premium performance tier and ZRS redundancy) fundamentally ensure that your cloud file services meet specific performance, availability, and cost requirements for demanding workloads?